Jury gives 4 cents to family of black man killed by Florida cop

www.miamiherald.com...

In 2014, two officers with the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office in Florida went to Gregory Vaughn Hill Jr.'s home for a noise complaint.

Hill, a 30-year-old black man, had been blasting an expletive-laden song by Drake, according to court testimony reviewed by CNN, and an unhappy woman who heard the song called officers to complain. The two deputies, including Christopher Newman, arrived to the house and knocked on the garage door, which Hill opened.

The officers exclaimed that the man had a gun, according to a lawsuit from Hill's family, and so the 30-year-old closed his door. Newman fired bullets through the garage door, hitting Hill once in the head and twice in the chest.

At first, the jury gave the man's family $4. That includes a single dollar for each of Hill's children — aged 7, 10 and 13 — and another dollar for the man's funeral expenses, NBC reported. But the jury found that Hill, who had been drinking at the time, was 99 percent at fault for his own death.

So that $4 was then reduced to just four cents.

My God! I mean I'm not sure whether to disagree with this decision or call it the best thing that's ever happened to frivolous civil lawsuits, but DAMN! I sort of agree with the lawyer who said a ruling of $0 would have been more appropriate... and I say that purely because a judgement of any sort, for any degree of money means the jury felt the officer was in the wrong here. If that's the case, then I have to assume the penalty should be more than $0,04 based on improper policing alone. That said, after reading the details I'm not finding any fault with the officer... don't brandish weapons at the cops, especially over blaring your crap-ass music, would seem to be the moral of the story here. But, again, 4 cents. That's the definition of brutal and it will hopefully become a deterrent to people abusing the civil justice system in hopes of getting a tax funded payday out of their own relative's stupidity and arrogance.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

That is savagely petty.

The jury trolled them hard.

But the jury found that Hill, who had been drinking at the time, was 99 percent at fault for his own death.

And he lived in his parents garage at 30 years.

Answered the door with a gun.

Drake.

Middle of the day across from a school that was letting out.

The guy was going nowhere anyway...

Sorry folks, this guy was a loser at life, and lost at life.

Its people like this that make me believe in Natural Selection because thats Mother Nature hard at work right there.

So the guy was drinking and listening music at his house and got shot through a door because he had an unloaded gun in his back pocket, yeah he was 99% at fault of being black, or is it you cannot no longer drink, listen music and own guns in you house?

So shooting someone through a door after they've closed said door behind them is ok? Maybe this guy brought his gun with him anytime he went to open his door in case he was attacked? Seems like a wild abuse of power to open fire on someone who us walking away, especially when it's blindly shooting through a door.

But then again this is probably another race bait thread seeing as him being black was one of the first details given in the linked article.

a reply to: Butterfinger

We should just kill anyone who lives in their parents house, after all they aren't worthy to live being such losers. You have a family member that lives with their parents? Too bad, they have to die because they're losers.

You sound like a real piece of # saying that you know.

Not allowed to be inside your own structure, with a gun?

the article said he had a gun and refused to drop it.

but it says they shot him through a door.

but yeah the jury told them to piss off

i dont like being stereotyped but.......

got the drake....
drinking the yak
money with the cornrows.

originally posted by: Indigent
So the guy was drinking and listening music at his house and got shot through a door because he had an unloaded gun in his back pocket, yeah he was 99% at fault of being black, or is it you cannot no longer drink, listen music and own guns in you house?

Yeah this is a disgrace. The guy is in his own house cops just dont like doors shut in their face.

You better respect their authority.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

If you're black and shot by a cop, it will ALWAYS BE at the top of the article.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

This isn't intended to be a race bait thread, dude. I find the story interesting because I believe the civil "justice" system in this country is way out of control and represents a double jeopardy of any defendant found not guilty. The criminal trial of the officer involved found him not guilty, therefore this civil trial should never have taken place, period. "Insulting" judgements such as this may cause future civil litigations to be thought about twice before the litigant and their attorney proceeds to file for the case. Nobody likes being essentially slapped in the face publicly, which is what happened to the dead man's family in this case.

originally posted by: Butterfinger

But the jury found that Hill, who had been drinking at the time, was 99 percent at fault for his own death.

And he lived in his parents garage at 30 years.

Answered the door with a gun.

Drake.

Middle of the day across from a school that was letting out.

The guy was going nowhere anyway...

Sorry folks, this guy was a loser at life, and lost at life.

Its people like this that make me believe in Natural Selection because thats Mother Nature hard at work right there.

WTF does that have to do with anything? Maybe he pays his parents rent and they need that money.

My 26 year old son lives with me should the cops shoot him because hes going nowhere?

a reply to: burdman30ott6

The criminal trial of the officer involved found him not guilty, therefore this civil trial should never have taken place, period.

The cop that pulled the trigger here was found not guilty too in the criminal trial



I hope the family of this unarmed dead guy find some justice in the civil trial

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Get off your high horses, I didnt say kill him because he still lives at home! LOL

I said he was going nowhere anyway.

Look at this life trajectory;

Kids in another house, lives in garage at 30, drunk in the middle of the day across the street from a school blazing fool's music, and answering the door with a gun?

Not the life habits of successful people.

originally posted by: notsure1

originally posted by: Indigent
So the guy was drinking and listening music at his house and got shot through a door because he had an unloaded gun in his back pocket, yeah he was 99% at fault of being black, or is it you cannot no longer drink, listen music and own guns in you house?

Yeah this is a disgrace. The guy is in his own house cops just dont like doors shut in their face.

You better respect their authority.

He answered the door with a gun in his hand.

a reply to: Indigent

It's still a form of double jeopardy. In fact, I'd say it's an even more onerous form of double jeopardy, considering the juries usually view it as a municipality, state, or agency that will be paying the judgement and seem to be far more generous with tax payer dollars than they normally are in private litigation cases.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

First of all, the guy was black. He should have known better than to be black. So that was just stupid of him.

Secondly, I'm pretty sure killing a person isn't a crime if they've been drinking, at least in most states.

Add to that fact that he had a gun in his pocket inside his own home. I don't even think the NRA would approve of that.

This guy probably should have been taken out years ago, as he was clearly a danger to society. Probably ought to kill his wife and kids just to be safe. Don't want them to end up exercising their rights in their own home while being black. If that occurs, then we're all in terrible peril.

WTF does that have to do with anything? Maybe he pays his parents rent and they need that money.

My 26 year old son lives with me should the cops shoot him because hes going nowhere?

Everything.... he certainly doesnt seem an honest, down on his luck kid by the scene description.

Come off it, your son doesnt answer doors drunk with firearms does he?

Then no, no death for him.

Gimme a break already.

They could have at least given them 50 cent.

a reply to: burdman30ott6


Talk about taking the piss.

This is piss taking of the highest order.